> We're talking about having to grasp variables, lists, function calls - basic stuff - that given no prior knowledge may take weeks alone.

Not true at all. I had no prior programming knowledge when I began Objective-C and all of that was grasped within a week no problem. Pointers were easy to get. Arrays couldn't be easier (even multi-level). Things are so much easier when you aren't sitting in a class and getting told things are hard. Cause most of the time they aren't.